This stems from the intentional decision to make absentee ownership have very low carrying costs. If you build a housing unit in Hawaii, nearly anyone in the e

This stems from the intentional decision to make absentee ownership have very low carrying costs. If you build a housing unit in Hawaii, nearly anyone in the entire world is an eligible purchaser. Shift the tax distribution to favor workers/residents, and a huge percentage of eligible purchasers drop out of contention. Make it so that it is a dumb idea to buy housing in Hawaii unless you spend a really significant amount of time there.